Proportionality and Party Success in Europe

This thesis consists of four articles and an introductory section. The main research questions in all the articles are about proportionality and party success in Europe, at European, national or district levels. Proportionality in this thesis denotes the proximity of seat shares parties receive compared to their respective vote shares, after the electoral system’s allocation process. This proportionality can be measured through numerous indices that illustrate either the overall proportionality of an electoral system or a particular election. The correspondence of a single party’s seat shares to its vote shares can also be measured. The overall proportionality is essential in three of the articles (1, 2 and 4), where the system’s performance is studied by means of plots. In article 3, minority party success is measured by advantage-ratios that reveal single party’s winnings or losses in the votes to seat allocation process. The first article asks how proportional are the European parliamentary (EP) electoral systems, how do they compare with results gained from earlier studies and how do the EP electoral systems treat different sized parties. The reasons for different outcomes are looked for in explanations given by traditional electoral studies i.e. electoral system variables. The countries studied (EU15) apply electoral systems that vary in many important aspects, even though a certain amount of uniformity has been aspired to for decades. Since the electoral systems of the EP elections closely resemble the national elections, the same kinds of profiles emerge as in the national elections. The electoral systems indeed treat the parties differentially and six different profile types can be found. The counting method seems to somewhat determine the profile group, but the strongest variables determining the shape of a countries’ profile appears to be the average district magnitude and number of seats allocated to each country. The second article also focuses on overall proportionality performance of an electoral system, but here the focus is on the impact of electoral system changes. I have developed a new method of visualizing some previously used indices and some new indices for this purpose. The aim is to draw a comparable picture of these electoral systems’ changes and their effects. The cases, which illustrate this method, are four elections systems, where a change has occurred in one of the system variables, while the rest remained unchanged. The studied cases include the French, Greek and British European parliamentary systems and the Swedish national parliamentary system. The changed variables are electoral type (plurality changed to PR in the UK), magnitude (France splitting the nationwide district into eight smaller districts), legal threshold (Greece introducing a three percent threshold) and counting method (d’Hondt was changed to modified Sainte-Laguë in Sweden). The radar plots from elections after and before the changes are drawn for all country cases. When quantifying the change, the change in the plots area that is created has also been calculated. Using these radar plots we can observe that the change in electoral system type, magnitude, and also to some extent legal threshold had an effect on overall proportionality and accessibility for small parties, while the change between the two highest averages counting method had none. The third article studies the success minority parties have had in nine electoral systems in European heterogeneous countries. This article aims to add more motivation as to why we should care how different sized parties are treated by the electoral systems. Since many of the parties that aspire to represent minorities in European countries are small, the possibilities for small parties are highlighted. The theory of consociational (or power-sharing) democracy suggests that, in heterogeneous societies, a proportional electoral system will provide the fairest treatment of minority parties. The OSCE Lund Recommendations propose a number of electoral system features, which would improve minority representation. In this article some party variables, namely the unity of the minority parties and the geographical concentration of the minorities were included among possible explanations. The conclusions are that the central points affecting minority success were indeed these non-electoral system variables rather than the electoral system itself. Moreover, the size of the party was a major factor governing success in all the systems investigated; large parties benefited in all the studied electoral systems. In the fourth article the proportionality profiles are again applied, but this time to district level results in Finnish parliamentary elections. The level of proportionality distortion is also studied by way of indices. The average magnitudes during the studied periodrange from 7.5 to 26.2 in the Finnish electoral districts and this opens up unequal opportunities for parties in different districts and affects the shape of the profiles. The intra-country case allows the focus to be placed on the effect of district magnitude, since all other electoral systems are kept constant in an intra-country study. The time span in the study is from 1962 to 2007, i.e. the time that the districts have largely been the same geographically. The plots and indices tell the same story, district magnitude and electoral alliances matter. The district magnitude is connected to the overall proportionality of the electoral districts according to both indices, and the profiles are, as expected, also closer to perfect proportionality in large districts. Alliances have helped some small parties to gain a much higher seat share than their respective vote share and these successes affect some of the profiles. The profiles also show a consistent pattern of benefits for the small parties who ally with the larger parties.

Kestomagneettikoneen roottorin väsymisanalyysi

Työn tavoitteena oli luoda työkalu kestomagneettikoneiden roottoreiden väsymisen analysointia varten. Työkalu toteutettiin siten, että siihen voidaan liittää oikeasta koneesta mitattu kuormitusdata, sekä tarvittavat materiaalitiedot. Kuormitusdata muunnetaan työkalussa jännityshistoriaksi käyttämällä elementtimenetelmän avulla laskettavaa skaalauskerrointa. Kestoiän laskemiseen analyysityökalu käyttää jännitykseen perustuvaa menetelmää sekä rainflowmenetelmää ja Palmgren-Minerin kumulatiivista vauriosääntöä. Lisäksi työkalu tekee tutkittavalle tapaukselle Smithin väsymislujuuspiirroksen. Edellä mainittujen menetelmien lisäksi työn teoriaosassa esiteltiin väsymisanalyysimenetelmistä myös paikalliseen venymään perustuva menetelmä sekä murtumismekaniikka. Nämä menetelmät jäivät monimutkaisuutensa vuoksi toteuttamatta työkalussa. Väsymisanalyysityökalulla laskettiin kestoiät kahdelle esimerkkitapaukselle. Kummassakin tapauksessa saatiin tulokseksi ääretön kestoikä, mutta aksiaalivuokoneen roottorin dynaaminen varmuus oli pieni. Vaikka tulokset vaikuttavat järkeviltä, ne olisi vielä hyvä verifioida esimerkiksi kaupallisen ohjelmiston avulla täyden varmuuden saamiseksi.

Tehokerrointa korjaava skalaariohjaus puoliohjatussa ja kuusikytkintasasuuntaajassa

Verkon harmonisvirtoja rajoittavien standardien tiukentuessa joudutaan etenkin suuritehoisissa tehoelektronisissa laitteissa siirtymään aktiivisiin transistoriohjattuihin tasasuuntaajiin, jotka korjaavat tehokerrointa ja siten pienentävät verkkoon kytkeytyviä häiriövirtoja. Tässä diplomityössä esitellään yleisimpien kolmivaiheisten tasasuuntaajatopologioiden eroja ja vertaillaan puoliohjatun kolmikytkintopologian ja kuusikytkintopologian suorituskykyä tehokertoimen ja harmonissärön osalta, 16 kilowatin teholuokan taajuusmuuttajassa. Tasasuuntaajille tehtiin skalaariohjaukseen perustuva simulointimalli. Työn tavoitteena esitellään simulointitulokset harmonistason sekä tehokertoimen osalta. Työ liittyy Lappeenrannan teknillisen yliopiston sovelletun elektroniikan laboratorion ja Vacon Oyj:n yhteiseen hankkeeseen.

Pk-yrityksen menestystekijät kansainvälistymisprosessissa

Tutkielman tarkoitus oli selvittää, mitkä tekijät määrittelevät kansainvälistymisprosessin potentiaalista menestyjää. Aihetta on tutkittu paljon, mutta laajempi kokonaiskuva kansainvälistymisen menestystekijöistä puuttui. Tutkielman näkökulma on holistinen: Siinä yhdistettiin useampi linssi eri näkökulmia menestymiseen kansainvälistymisessä ja eri tutkimusmetodeja kvalitatiivisista kvantitatiivisiin. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin teoriasidonnaista lähestymistapaa ja konstruktiivista tutkimusotetta, jonka avulla Finpro ry:lle rakennettiin usean tutkimusvaiheen aikana potentiaalisia menestystapauksia tunnistava työkalu. Tutkimus toteutettiin neljässä vaiheessa, joissa rakennettiin kunkin vaiheen testituloksien mukainen konstruktio. Ensimmäisessä vaiheessa teemahaastattelulla selvitettiin konstruktion tarvepohja sekä rajaehdot. Konstruktion pohjaksi taulukoitiin 2001–2012 vuosien tutkimuksien tutkituimmat menestystekijät ja siihen lisättiin kansainvälistymisprosessin asiantuntijoiden korostamat menestystekijät. Tulokset yhdistettiin rakentamalla Konstruktio1. Toisessa vaiheessa Konstruktio1:sta kyselyn ja eksploratiivisen faktorianalyysin avulla faktoroitiin tärkeimmät menestymisen taustalla olevat ilmiöt, joista rakennettiin Konstruktio2. Kolmannessa vaiheessa kahden riippumattomien otosten ttestin avulla selvitettiin, mitkä Konstruktio2:n menestysfaktorit ovat tärkeimpiä ICT- ja life science -toimialoilla toimiville yrityksille ja mitä ilmiöitä yrityksen johto tai sijoittajat pitävät tärkeinä. Tuloksien pohjalta Konstruktio2 kehitettiin Konstruktio3:ksi. Neljännessä vaiheessa Konstruktio3:n pätevyyttä testattiin peilaamalla sen menestysfaktoreita kuuteen menestyjiksi todettuun tapaukseen, ja sen toimivuus selvitettiin kuuden avoimen haastattelun avulla. Tuloksien avulla Konstruktio3:sta rakennettiin Konstruktio4. Tutkimukset osoittivat, että menestystekijät vaihtelevat yrityksen kansainvälistymispolun ja eri näkökulmien mukaan. Tutkimus loi vahvan teoreettisen ja liiketoiminnallisen kontribuution. Tutkimusvaiheiden avulla hahmotettiin kansainvälistymisessä menestymisen kokonaisuus ja luottiin uusi näkemys pk-yrityksen menestymisestä. Toisaalta päästiin myös heti käyttövalmiiseen lopputulokseen, joka auttaa Finpron konsultteja ja myyjiä ymmärtämään menestymistä kansainvälistymisprosessissa ja löytämään potentiaalisia menestyjiä.

NH90 helikopterin moottoreiden syklilaskennan tehostaminen ja elinkaarihallinta

Tutkimustyö liittyy NH90 Helikopterin RTM-322 moottoreiden syklivaihdettavi-en osien huollonsuunnitteluun ja sen kehittämiseen. Tavoitteena oli löytää nykyi-sen käyttösyklilaskennan tilalle säästävämpi ratkaisumalli ja saada määritettyä suihkumoottorin osakokonaisuuksille lisälentoaikaa sekä huollonsuunnitteluun järkevämmät käyttöjaksot. Tähän päästiin selvittämällä käytännön lentotoiminnan avulla uudet laskentakertoimet ja -mallit moottorin eri osien eliniän määrittämi-seksi. Konkreettisena tavoitteena oli saada koneen käyttöhistoriaan perustuen kohdeorganisaatiolle esitys, miten moottoreiden käyttösyklilaskentaa tulisi muut-taa ja tehostaa. Diplomityön aihe muodostuu kolmesta tutkimusongelmakokonaisuudesta; moot-torin käyttöhistorian tutkimisesta, moottorivalmistajan hyväksymien syklilasken-tamenetelmien tutkimisesta ja moottorin syklien säästövaikutustarkastelusta tut-kimuksen määrittämillä uusilla laskentamenetelmillä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena muodostui NH90 huollonsuunnitteluun arvio mahdollisis-ta moottorisyklisäästöistä sekä moottoreiden näkökulmasta priorisoitu lista heli-kopterien moottoreiden laitevaihtohuoltojen järjestyksestä seuraavan viiden vuo-den aikana. Syklien säästötarkastelun pohjalta suoritettiin yhden koneen osalta koko käyttöhistorian ajalta takaisinlaskentatarkastelu. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin Ilmavoimien meneillään olevien projektien valossa moottorisyklien tarkanlasken-nan toteuttamismahdollisuudet tulevaisuudessa. Tutkimuksessa saatujen tulosten avulla vältyttäisiin tulevaisuudessa RTM-322 moottorin ennenaikaisilta laitevaih-doilta koko NH90 kaluston suhteen ja näin saataisiin aikaan merkittävän suuria säästöjä vuoteen 2020 mennessä.

Effective notch method assessment of misalignment for fatigue loaded welds

 The objective of this thesis work was to assess axial misalignment in fatigue loaded welds using the effective notch method. As a result, the fatigue behaviour of non-load carrying cruciform fillet welded joint under cyclic tensile loading has been studied. Various degrees of axial misalignment have been found in one series of non-load carrying cruciform fillet welded joints used in a laboratory investigation. As a result, it was important to carry out a comprehensive investigation since axial misalignment forms part of thequality of fatigue loaded structure and can reduce the fatigue strength. To extend the study, the correlation between fatigue strength and stress ratio, as well as stress concentration factor, were also studied. Moreover, a closer investigation of place of crack initiation and its dependence on weld sequence and imperfections of test specimen (angular distortion) was studied. For the fatigue class calculations, FEM (finite element method) and the effectivenotch approach are used. The addressed variable is the axial misalignment whichis introduce by modeling the entire joint. Fracture mechanics based calculations are also used and quantitatively compared with effective notch and experimental results.

A support system for evaluating a suitable joining method in the production of sheet metal goods

This report illustrates a comparative study of various joining methods involved in sheet metal production. In this report it shows the selection of joining methods, which includes comparing the advantages and disadvantages of a method over the other ones and choosing the best method for joining. On the basis of various joining process from references, a table is generated containing set of criterion that helps in evaluation of various sheet metal joining processes and in selecting the most suitable process for a particular product. Three products are selected and a comprehensive study of the joining methods is analyzed with the help of various parameters. The table thus is the main part of the analysis process of this study and can be advanced with the beneficial results. It helps in a better and easy understanding and comparing the various methods, which provides the foundation of this study and analysis. The suitability of the joining method for various types of cases of different sheet metal products can be tested with the help of this table. The sections of the created table display the requirements of manufacturing. The important factor has been considered and given focus in the table, as how the usage of these parameters is important in percentages according to particular or individual case. The analysis of the methods can be extended or altered by changing the parameters according to the constraint. The use of this table is demonstrated by pertaining the cases from sheet metal production.

Applying the Total Quality Management Method in ICT Business

Kokonaisvaltaisen laatujohtamisen malli TQM (Total Quality Management) on noussut yhdeksi merkittävimmistä konsepteista globaalissa liiketoiminnassa, missä laatu on tärkeä kilpailutekijä. Tämä diplomityö pureutuu nykyaikaiseen kokonaisvaltaisen laatujohtamisen konseptiin, joka nostaa perinteisen laatuajattelun uudelle tasolle. Moderni laatujohtamisajattelu on kasvanut koskemaan yrityksen toiminnan kaikkia osa-alueita. Työn tavoitteena on TietoEnator Käsittely ja Verkkopalvelut liiketoiminta-alueen osalta laadun sekä liiketoiminnallisen suorituskyvyn parantaminen kokonaisvaltaisesti. Ennen varsinaisen laatujohtamis-konseptin käsittelyä työ esittelee ensin yleisellä tasolla perinteistä laatu käsitettä sekä käsittelee lyhyestiICT-liiketoimintaa ja siihen liittyviä standardeja. Lopuksi tutkimus esittelee priorisoituja parannusehdotuksia ja askeleita jotka auttavat organisaatiota saavuttamaan kokonaisvaltaisen laatujohtamiskonseptin mukaisia pyrkimyksiä.

Communicating Cost Information to Design Engineers using an Activity-based Costing Method

This paper analyzes the possibilities of integrating cost information and engineering design. Special emphasis is on finding the potential of using the activity-based costing (ABC) method when formulating cost information for the needs of design engineers. This paper suggests that ABC is more useful than the traditional job order costing, but the negative issue is the fact that ABC models become easily too complicated, i.e. expensive to build and maintain, and difficult to use. For engineering design the most suitable elements of ABC are recognizing activities of the company, constructing acitivity chains, identifying resources, activity and cost drivers, as wellas calculating accurate product costs. ABC systems including numerous cost drivers can become complex. Therefore, a comprehensive ABC based cost information system for the use of design engineers should be considered criticaly. Combining the suitable ideas of ABC with engineering oriented thinking could give competentresults.

Introducing Basic Systematic Requirements Engineering Practices in Small Organizations with an Easy to Adopt Method

Requirements-relatedissues have been found the third most important risk factor in software projects and as the biggest reason for software project failures. This is not a surprise since; requirements engineering (RE) practices have been reported deficient inmore than 75% of all; enterprises. A problem analysis on small and low maturitysoftware organizations revealed two; central reasons for not starting process improvement efforts: lack of resources and uncertainty; about process improvementeffort paybacks.; In the constructive part of the study a basic RE method, BaRE, was developed to provide an; easy to adopt way to introduce basic systematic RE practices in small and low maturity; organizations. Based on diffusion of innovations literature, thirteen desirable characteristics; were identified for the solution and the method was implemented in five key components:; requirements document template, requirements development practices, requirements; management practices, tool support for requirements management, and training.; The empirical evaluation of the BaRE method was conducted in three industrial case studies. In; this evaluation, two companies established a completely new RE infrastructure following the; suggested practices while the third company conducted continued requirements document; template development based on the provided template and used it extensively in practice. The; real benefits of the adoption of the method were visible in the companies in four to six months; from the start of the evaluation project, and the two small companies in the project completed; their improvement efforts with an input equal to about one person month. The collected dataon; the case studies indicates that the companies implemented new practices with little adaptations; and little effort. Thus it can be concluded that the constructed BaRE method is indeed easy to; adopt and it can help introduce basic systematic RE practices in small organizations.

Uusien polyuretaanimateriaalien kehittäminen

Polyuretaanielastomeerit ovat jaksottaisia sekapolymeerejä, jotka muodostuvat vuoroittaisista joustavien ketjujen segmenteistä ja hyvin polaarisista kovista segmenteistä. Kemiallinen rakenne ja ominaisuudet riippuvat käytetyistä reaktiokomponenteista. Pehmeän segmentin muodostaa polyoli ja kovan segmentin muodostaa yleensä di-isosyanaatti ja ketjunjatkaja. Polyuretaanielastomeerien valmistus tapahtuu valamalla, jolloin reaktiokomponentit ovat nestemäisiä. Työssä tutkittiin kahta perusmateriaalia ja yhden lisäaineen vaikutusta niiden ominaisuuksiin. Erityisesti kiinnitettiin huomiota dynaamisiin ja mekaanisiin ominaisuuksiin ja verrattiin aineita keskenään. Käytettyjä karakterisointimenetelmiä olivat kontaktikulmamittaukset, DMTA-mittaukset, dynaaminen rasittaminen pyörityslaitteella, elektronimikroskopia, hydrolyysitesti, vetotesti ja kulutustesti. Tutkittujen materiaalien pääasiallinen käyttökohde on pyörä- tai telapinnoitteena. Työn aikana kehitettiin pyörityslaite, jolla voitiin tutkia pinnoitemateriaalin käyttäytymistä halutuissa rasitusolosuhteissa. Lisäaineen vaikutus dynaamisiin ominaisuuksiin oli negatiivinen tai olematon, sillä DMTA-testien perusteella lisäaine kasvatti materiaalien häviötekijää (tan d). Pyöritystestien perusteella lisäaineella ei ollut vaikutusta hystereesiin eli pinnoitemateriaalin lämpenemiseen testin aikana. Uusi tutkittu materiaali osoittautui dynaamisissa kokeissa paremmaksi kuin vanha tuotantomateriaali. Lisäaine kasvatti molempien tutkittujen aineiden pintaenergiaa kontaktikulmamittausten perusteella. Tuotantoaineen vetomurtolujuus kasvoi lisäaineen vaikutuksesta, mutta uuden aineen vetomurtolujuus pieneni. Lisäaineella oli lievä hydrolyysiltä suojaava vaikutus tutkituilla perusaineilla. Uusi tutkittu perusmateriaali sieti hydrolyysiä paremmin kuin tuotantomateriaali, koska sen valmistuksessa käytettiin polyeetteripolyolia ja tuotantomateriaalissa polyesteripolyolia.

Negative Regulation of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases by T-cell Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation controls a wide array of cellular responses such as growth, migration, proliferation, differentiation, metabolism and cytoskeletal organisation. Tyrosine phosphorylation is a dynamic process involving the competing activities of protein tyrosine kinases and protein tyrosine phosphatases. The protein tyrosine kinases are further divided into non-receptor- and receptor tyrosine kinases. The latter are transmembrane glycoproteins activated by the binding of specific ligands, mostly growth factors, to their extracellular domain, transmitting different signals to the cell. Growth factor receptors such as the epidermal growth factor receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β, belong to the receptor tyrosine kinases, the signalling of which is often disturbed in various diseases, including cancer. This has led to the development of receptor tyrosine kinase antagonists for use as anti-cancer drugs. As the receptor tyrosine kinases, also the protein tyrosine phosphatases can be divided into receptor- and non-receptor types. The protein tyrosine phosphatases have attained much less attention than the receptor tyrosine kinases partly because they were identified later. However, accumulating evidence shows that the protein tyrosine phosphatases have important roles as specific and active regulators of tyrosine phosphorylation in cells and of physiological processes. Consequently, the protein tyrosine phosphatases are receiving arising interest as novel drug targets. The aim of this work was to elucidate the negative regulation of receptor tyrosine kinases by one non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase, T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase TCPTP. The results show that TCPTP activated by cell adhesion receptor integrin α1 functions as a negative regulator of the epidermal growth factor receptor. It was also found that TCPTP affects vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 signalling and angiogenesis. Lastly, a High-throughput screen with 64,280 compounds was performed to identify novel TCPTP activators, resulting in identification of one small molecule compound capable of exerting similar effects on TCPTP signalling as integrin α1. This compound is shown to downregulate signalling of epidermal growth factor receptor and platelet-derived growth factor receptor β, as well as to inhibit cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Our results suggest that a suitable small-molecule TCPTP activator could be utilized in the development of novel anti-cancer drugs.

Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation In Multiple Myeloma

Background. Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematologic malignancy after lymphomas In Finland: the annual incidence of MM is approximately 200. For three decades the median survival remained at 3 to 4 years from diagnosis until high-dose melphalan treatment supported by autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) became the standard of care for newly diagnosed MM since the mid 1990’s and the median survival increased to 5 – 6 years. This study focuses on three important aspects of ASCT, namely 1) stem cell mobilization, 2) single vs. double ASCT as initial treatment, and 3) the role of minimal residual disease (MRD) for longterm outcome. Aim. The aim of this series of studies was to evaluate the outcomes of MM patients and the ASCT procedure at the Turku University Central Hospital, Finland. First, we tried to identify which factors predict unsuccessful mobilization of autologous stem cells. Second, we compared the use of short-acting granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) with long-acting G-CSF as mobilization agents. Third, one and two successive ASCTs were compared in 100 patients with MM. Fourth, for patients in complete response (CR) after stem cell transplantation (SCT), patient-specific probes for quantitative allele-specific oligonucleotide polymerase-chain reaction (qASO-PCR) measurements were designed to evaluate MRD and its importance for long-term outcome. Results. The quantity of previous chemotherapy and previous interferon use were significant pre-mobilization factors that predicted mobilization failure, together with some factors related to mobilization therapy itself, such as duration and degree of cytopenias and occurrence of sepsis. Short-acting and long-acting G-CSF combined with chemotherapy were comparable as stem cells mobilizers. The progression free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) tended to be longer after double ASCT than after single ASCT with a median follow-up time of 4 years, but this difference disappeared as the follow-up time increased. qASO-PCR was a good and sensitive divider of the CR patients into two prognostic groups: MRD low/negative (≤ 0.01%) and MRD high (>0.01%) groups with a significant difference in PFS and suggestively also in OS. Conclusions. When the factors prediciting a poor outcome of stem cell mobilization prevail, it is possible to identify those patients who need specific efforts to maximize the mobilization efficacy. Long-acting pegfilgrastim is a practical and effective alternative to short-acting filgrastim for mobilization therapy. There is no need to perform double ASCT on all eligible patients. MRD assessment with qASO-PCR is a sensitive method for evaluation of the depth of the CR response and can be used to predict long-term outcome after ACST.

The Process of Greening Cycle as Method of Operative Environmental

The structural change of society from product-based business to service- and further to need-based business has caused the fact that work for environmental issues has spread from conventional factories and environmentally harmful production to concern services and offices as well. Almost every company has an office, so a relatively small environmental burden caused by an individual office grows remarkable already at the state level and globally even more. Motivation to work for environmental issues in an individual office could be challenging even without the fact that wasted environmental impacts bound also wasted costs. Besides cost savings, a concretely greener image of a company has its value in the B2Cas well as in the B2B-field. Consumers and clients are more and more conscious of environmental issues and demand concrete actions instead of speeches, good thoughts and meaningless certifications. Internal work for environmental issues at a strategy level is not sufficient, so operational environmental management is needed for changing old practices. This research is about the effects of operative environmental management on the greening process of an office-based business. The research is outlined to concern the operative work in the office including field sales. Target was to concretely lower the environmental impacts of Lyreco Finland and to find cost savings directly by changing the operative practices in the office and also indirectly by affecting the level of environmental knowledge of the personnel. During the greening process, the aim was also to create concrete arguments for marketing as well. The circle of greening process, which was especially created for this diploma work, was used as a method. The circle divides a year to themes and sections separated by factors of environmental impacts. Separation is based on Brett Wills’ thoughts of seven green wastes (Wills, Brett. The Green Intensions. 2009) and follows it uneasily. The circle aimed at ensuring evolutionary growth of knowledge instead of being revolutionary in the changing process. Committing personnel to the process from its start by asking ideas from them and giving them clear directions was an important part of the research of operative management. Because of working from distance, communication with personnel was operated by frequent training days and weekly greening notes via emails and intranet. Also availability for communication was an important task because of the telecommuting. Research results of this work show that operative environmental management in an officebased business today is mostly management of change. When the strategic environmental friendliness is taken into a concrete level, the most important individual factor is motivating the operating personnel. Research shows that evolutionary change is found being an efficient way to make a change. Also understanding one´s own impact on the environmental burden and on the whole greening process clearly motivates the personnel. Results show that in the operative realization of the greening process, clear directions of new working practices, being as concrete as possible, and committing personnel to follow them make the process more effective. The operative environmental management and the cycle of the greening process decrease the environmental burden and save costs. The concrete results could be used as believable arguments in marketing and therefore exploited in communication with interest groups. Commitment of the management is also one of the key factors of success in the greening process. In this research, changes in the business field by a company trade took the focus of the management away from the greening process and made the process more inefficient by decreasing the amount of training days. The circle of greening process will be used as a tool in the future, as well, and therefore it will help observe environmental impacts of a company and increase sustainable development. Commitment of management to the evolutionary environmental work helps the operating personnel lower environmental impacts, decrease costs and build a concretely greener image.

Role and regulatory mechanisms of heat shock factor 2

Protein homeostasis is essential for cells to prosper and survive. Various forms of stress, such as elevated temperatures, oxidative stress, heavy metals or bacterial infections cause protein damage, which might lead to improper folding and formation of toxic protein aggregates. Protein aggregation is associated with serious pathological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. The heat shock response is a defense mechanism that protects the cell against protein-damaging stress. Its ancient origin and high conservation among eukaryotes suggest that the response is crucial for survival. The main regulator of the heat shock response is the transcription factor heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), which induces transcription of genes encoding protective molecular chaperones. In vertebrates, a family of four HSFs exists (HSF1-4), with versatile functions not only in coping with acute stress, but also in development, longevity and cancer. Thus, knowledge of the HSFs will aid in our understanding on how cells survive suboptimal circumstances, but will also provide insights into normal physiological processes as well as diseaseassociated conditions. In this study, the function and regulation of HSF2 have been investigated. Earlier gene inactivation experiments in mice have revealed roles for HSF2 in development, particularly in corticogenesis and spermatogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that HSF2 holds a role also in the heat shock response and influences stress-induced expression of heat shock proteins. Intriguingly, DNA-binding activity of HSF2 upon stress was dependent on the presence of intact HSF1, suggesting functional interplay between HSF1 and HSF2. The underlying mechanism for this phenomenon could be configuration of heterotrimers between the two factors, a possibility that was experimentally verified. By changing the levels of HSF2, the expression of HSF1-HSF2 heterotrimer target genes was altered, implementing HSF2 as a modulator of HSF-mediated transcription. The results further indicate that HSF2 activity is dependent on its concentration, which led us to ask the question of how accurate HSF2 levels are achieved. Using mouse spermatogenesis as a model system, HSF2 was found to be under direct control of miR-18, a miRNA belonging to the miR-17~92 cluster/Oncomir-1 and whose physiological function had remained unclear. Investigations on spermatogenesis are severely hampered by the lack of cell systems that would mimic the complex differentiation processes that constitute male germ cell development. Therefore, to verify that HSF2 is regulated by miR-18 in spermatogenesis, a novel method named T-GIST (Transfection of Germ cells in Intact Seminiferous Tubules) was developed. Employing this method, the functional consequences of miR-18-mediated regulation in vivo were demonstrated; inhibition of miR- 18 led to increased expression of HSF2 and altered the expression of HSF2 target genes Ssty2 and Speer4a. Consequently, the results link miR-18 to HSF2-mediated processes such as germ cell maturation and quality control and provide miR-18 with a physiological role in gene expression during spermatogenesis.Taken together, this study presents compelling evidence that HSF2 is a transcriptional regulator in the heat shock response and establishes the concept of physical interplay between HSF2 and HSF1 and functional consequences thereof. This is also the first study describing miRNA-mediated regulation of an HSF.